Brussels, 24/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - During the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the common agricultural policy (CAP), José Manuel Barroso declared on Monday 23 January that this policy is “incontestably one of the very major success stories of European construction”.
The president of the European Commission admitted that this policy had always been the subject of heated debates, particularly during budget discussion periods. He said that he was convinced that the communication campaign launched during the 50th anniversary celebrations would help a large number of co-citizens to go “beyond the figures and certain preconceived ideas and discover what I continually discover in the agricultural world, namely real concrete accomplishments thanks to agricultural policy, as well as the remarkable potential of the agricultural sector and its dynamism”.
During the past 50 years, the CAP has developed significantly. Barroso stated: “It is indeed certainly one of the European policies that has experienced the most reform in order to successfully adapt each time to new, changing and challenging socio-economic situations. It has enabled deep modernisation of our European agriculture.” Given that we are currently having to face new challenges in a difficult economic context “the CAP remains more than ever one of our greatest advantages”.
He added that Europe needed a modernised CAP that was “strong, competitive, innovative and green in order to respond to Europeans' expectations with regard to food supply and health, and also in order to compete better at an international level and fully contribute to the fight against climate change and the sustainable management of our natural resources”. A reformed CAP will play a key role not only in supporting growth but also in the practical support it offers to job creation. It is for this reason that the European Commission proposed a doubling of Community funding for research and innovation in the European agro-foods sector, Barroso pointed out. He concluded that Europe can be proud of this policy.
Dacian Ciolos, the European commissioner for agriculture, said that “for 50 years the CAP has helped to develop a strong relationship between Europe and farmers and a partnership between European citizens and their farmers”. There are now fewer farmers but they are just as important to our society. Farmers help to meet consumers' expectations, with food products that are subject to more controls than anywhere else in the world but which are there to help citizens who want appropriately utilised natural landscapes and clean natural resources, stated the commissioner. Agricultural Europe is facing considerable challenges: developing production, attracting young farmers to work in this sector, overcoming pressure on natural resources which are the tools of production to farmers and essential public goods for citizens. Ciolos explained that “faced with these challenges, there is no ready-made solution. We have to value agricultural diversity appropriately. Science, research and innovation must be used in a practical sense to help farmers carry out their jobs in the fields. To achieve this and support a strong agriculture, the time has come to rewrite the partnership forged between society and farmers.”
He added that this partnership should: help farmers earn a living from their work (it is therefore necessary for the EU to support farmers' income); encourage farmers to invest, promote training, value and promote quality products; encourage and support farmers so that they can better organise themselves and work together. In the commissioner's opinion it is therefore necessary to move towards a renewed agricultural policy, “with a new partnership”.
Mette Gjerskov, the Danish minister for agriculture and acting president of the Council, pointed out that the CAP is about issues that affect us all: food, jobs and economic growth, the environment, climate and animal well-being. She said that the CAP was an important incentive for the Danes to vote 'yes' at the referendum. She also said that the CAP has developed over the years not only in terms of production of food, but also with regard to our responsibility for nature and the environment. “We are preparing a new chapter in the history of the CAP”, stated Gjerskov, to highlight the need for a “greener” (ecological) chapter, which means greater emphasis on environmental aspects, the climate, development, jobs, food safety, and animal well-being. She said that “the CAP must continue to develop in this direction” and said that the CAP had a green future: promoting green growth, producing high-quality food without jeopardising the environment. She concluded that the CAP, “must be part of the solution to the economic challenge Europe is facing” and highlighted the need to promote innovation and research in green technologies and use agriculture to promote growth.
Paolo De Castro, the chair of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, pointed out that the CAP had been subject to different far-reaching reforms. Through these reforms, the CAP is not only an economic policy but also an environmental and rural policy. He also said that the CAP now polluted less and provided citizens with safer products than before, as well as making a substantial contribution to improving the agri-food sector's performance. He defended a CAP that was “really able to produce more and pollute less”. Post-2013 CAP reform must provide a response to the challenges facing the EU. He concluded: “We are responsible for building the CAP of the future and we need to use the contribution made by millions of European farmers to the full in order to meet the challenges facing our societies.”
In a Copa-Cogeca press release, the organisation also congratulated the CAP on its 50th anniversary. Gerd Sonnleitner, the president of Copa, underlined the fact that the CAP “provides the backbone of rural areas across the EU and has successfully met its objective of ensuring high quality food supplies at reasonable prices for 500 million consumers in the EU. Yet farmers' returns from the market are plummeting because we are opening up our markets to imports that do not have to meet the EU's high standards and because farmers are up against the huge buying power of a few supermarkets. Farmers' incomes are only half that of average earnings. In view of this as well as increasing market volatility, scarce resources and growing world food demand, the upcoming CAP reform must be used to reinforce the economic role of farmers in providing food to ensure we have a dynamic, innovative and profitable CAP in the future and a flourishing agri-food sector”.
Paolo Bruni, the president of the Cogeca asserted that “it is crucial to strengthen in the reform producer organisations', such as cooperatives', position in the food chain to meet the growing world food demand and ensure a competitive EU agri-food sector. Competition rules also need to be adjusted to enable cooperatives to grow in size and scale, increasing their competitiveness and contributing to a rebalanced food chain.” (LC/transl.fl)